


Polite Conversation

by RaeSone99



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Airports, Fluff, Motorcycles, Post 3x04, Speculation, excited about 3x05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-30
Updated: 2014-10-30
Packaged: 2018-02-23 05:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2535881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaeSone99/pseuds/RaeSone99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver and Felicity wait in an airport for Felicity's mom to arrive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Polite Conversation

**Author's Note:**

> I own neither these characters nor this universe!

“So, who are you waiting for?”

Oliver pressed a tight lipped smile at the middle aged blonde woman sitting a few seats down from him. She only carried a light carry-on and a single suitcase.

“I’m not.”         

The blonde tilted her head a few degrees, reminding him of another blonde he knew; one that had run off to the restroom and then the gift shop because ‘I left her gift in the car and I’m not going back!’ Oliver felt the perfunctory smile he’d adopted relax as he remembered Felicity racing off, skirt swishing gently around her knees.  Felicity would suggest that he not be so abrupt with strangers. And it would be at least 10 minutes before she returned.

“I’m here with my friend.”

The lady gave him a knowing smile, “She must be some type of friend for you to be out here with all the flights delayed or grounded.”  

This time his smile was genuine, “She is. I know she’d do the same thing for me.”

'Ask her a question back', he remembered. He was rotten at small talk. It’d been one of his failings as CEO of QC.

 “How about you? What brings you to the airport?”

Without missing a beat the woman replied dryly, “A plane.”

Oliver exhaled, amused but deciding to respect her privacy. Keeping a bland façade he scanned the crowd intensely in the direction Felicity had gone. Felicity, who he’d practically had to beg to accompany her.

_“Seriously, Oliver, you don’t have to come. It’s just my mother and besides I don’t think her bags and the three of us will fit on the back of your Ducati.”_

_“Felicity,” he gazed into her eyes trying to communicate a desire he himself didn’t quite understand._

He wanted to meet her mother.

 He wasn’t a meet-your-parents type of guy. In fact the only parents he _had_ met were the Lances and he was 60% sure Capitan Lance still despised Oliver Queen. Not the best track record but he’d learned some valuable lessons. This was one meet the parents that he was going to get right. He didn’t plan on meeting anyone else’s anyway.

In the end they compromised. She drove her car and he tailed her on his bike. His mind wandered even as he closely examined a short blonde…no glasses; he moved on.

“Ah what the hay,”

Oliver was jolted out of a self-debate over whether or not he should hug Felicity’s mother upon meeting her or shake her hand, by the woman beside him. He turned to stare at her. She pursed her lips together.

“We’re not going anywhere any time soon and you’re too handsome to be a psychopath. Heck! We’ll probably never see one another again.”

Oliver nodded along deciding not to tell her that most of the really bad people he fought against weren’t exactly ugly either.

“I just got off my flight about ten minutes ago. I’m waiting on my daughter. She’s a bit younger than you are.”

Oliver nodded again and gave another polite, tight-lipped smile before glancing at the crowd again hoping for his partner. Silence settled between them. Out of the corner he saw the woman look out the large window behind them and into the parking lot. She gave a low whistle of appreciation.

“Look at that bike. Thing of beauty, that’s what that is.”

 For the first time in five Felicity-less minutes Oliver felt his interest peak. He followed her gaze. Parked in front of the window was a white Harley Davidson, probably V-Rod. Maybe he wasn't so great with parents or children or small talk but talking about bikes he could do. Besides it would be good practice.

“You ride?”

“Course I do. It’s how I met my baby’s father.” A fond expression crossed her face. “He pulled up into the diner one afternoon on a red 1985 FLT. He said ‘Darling, you name the place and if there’s a road to it I’ll take you there.” 

Oliver raised his eyebrows at her. She’d seemed like the no nonsense type to him. Feeling his disbelief she smiled distantly,

 “I know, sounds cheesy now but we were young and I was desperate not to end up in Po Dunk like the rest of my family.”

 Her voice hardened, “Five years later I was stuck in Vegas with an armful of toddler and he was nowhere in sight.” She blinked and the edge was gone, “Still one heckuva bike though. How ‘bout you handsome?”

Oliver nodded, immediately deciding not to tell her the story of how he used to impress his “dates” with the Ducati. He had a better one.

“Yeah. Actually I took my friend out for a ride this past summer.” He bit back a laugh remembering Felicity’s skeptical face when he offered her a ride. She’d called it a deathtrap and they’d spent the next ten minutes arguing about accident statistics.

The woman appraised his face for a second before asking, “How’d she like it?” Then she narrowed her eyes, “We are talking about a bike ride right?”

Oliver’s eyes widened. If Lian Yu hadn’t already stolen his ability to blush he would have. “No no,” he rushed. “We’re definitely talking about bikes. My friend, she’s scared of heights, so I offered her a trip to Bludhaven with me since the train depot was closed.”

The lady smirked, “How long until you were able to draw a normal breath?”

 “About thirty miles,” they both chuckled to themselves.

 Felicity had wrapped her arms around him so tight he was considering pulling over and calling Diggle to ask him to pick her up. But just as he spied the perfect turn off spot he heard her laugh and felt her hold lessen considerably. It was an exhilarated, delighted laugh, an I-can’t-believe-we’re-still-alive laugh. One of his favorite laughs. At the time he’d teased her about being glad she trusted him. She’d paused before telling him trusting him was the best decision she’d ever made. Unable to turn around and declare his undying devotion to her he did the next best thing: he pulled her closer.

“So, have you told her yet?” Oliver refocused his eyes on the woman and found her appraising him once more. One glance was all he needed to know not to play dumb.

“She knows.” He smiled to himself ruefully. They at least had that.

“Well, that’s a shame,” Oliver frowned at her confused. That the woman he loved knew he loved her was a shame? What kind of ice heart did this stranger have? And where was Felicity? The woman pursed her lips at his affronted expression before clarifying, “A shame for me. I was hoping to introduce you to my daughter. It would've been nice to have someone around who understands motorcycles. The last guy she brought home could only speak computer. And that was when he bothered to speak at all. The only full sentences I heard from that boy were ‘Hey Mrs. Smoak', and ‘Bye, Mrs. Smoak’.”

Oliver inhaled sharply, his eyes growing wide. “Mrs. Smoak?”

The woman, Mrs. Smoak, winked at him, “That’s with an ‘a’ before the ‘k’ and no ‘e’. Maybe if you and your friend have time later you can drop by and say hello. I’m sure my daughter wouldn't mind. She sounded lonely in her last email. Speaking of…”

Oliver watched, still in shock as Felicity rushed over and hugged Mrs. Smoak.

“Hey darling.”

“Hi mom,” disentangling herself she gestured at Oliver, “I see you’ve met my friend, Oliver.”

Oliver stood quickly, unsure. He never did decide if he should hug Felicity’s mother or shake her hand. Mrs. Smoak solved the problem for him.

Grabbing him in a warm hug she beamed, “Well, hello Oliver. Good to meet you.”

He smiled warmly back, “Likewise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Bare bones I know but hopefully okay :)


End file.
